Kapil Pandey- Kuldeep Yadav’s coach for the past 17 years has come out to speak openly against the Indian team management. India lost the second Test match to England in Chennai by a huge margin and many critics blamed Kohli for not picking up Kuldeep in the team. Kuldeep has so far picked up 24 wickets in six Test matches but he hasn’t been included in the eleven for 14 matches straight even after travelling with the team. Pandey was speaking in an interview with Sportskeeda.
Kuldeep last played a Test match in January 2019 when he picked up a five-wicket haul but never got a chance after that. When it was announced that Ravindra Jadeja was injured and won’t be a part of the team in the first Test match, Kuldeep was expected to make it to the eleven, alongside Ravichandran Ashwin. But still, Kuldeep did not get a chance, even as a third spinner.
Pandey said: “Kuldeep Yadav is continuously travelling with them, suffering, yet they are not giving him a chance. There goes a proverb as ‘Ghar ki murgi daal barabar’ – so you are not trying to understanding him, you are not looking at his numbers, you are treating him like a normal cricketer”
He failed to understand the logic behind the selection of Nadeem and Sundar. Sundar went wicket less in the match and Nadeem who picked four wickets wasn’t really impressive. "In this series, the coach and captain played Washington Sundar because they felt he will partner Ravichandran Ashwin better. Only they know the reason behind this selection. Virat Kohli can dissect this logic, head coach Ravi Shastri also can explain it," he said in the interview.
Finally, Pandey criticized Ravi Shastri and Kohli for sidelining Kuldeep. Pandey said: “If he slightly underperforms even in one match, they sideline him. On the other hand, rest of the players are given so many chances. You are including the player who is not in the team, who hasn’t got preparation. Where is the greatness of the captain and coach?”
Will Kuldeep be included in the next match, only time will tell.